grand opening, excited shoppers stream into two new wal-marts in d.c., but outside the new stores showed displeasure. black friday always a big shopping day, but guns were the items of choice it seems. in parts of our area at least. good morning, everyone and welcome to news 4 midday. it's wednesday, december 4th, 2013. this was angie at the live desk with breaking news out of fairfax county. >> thank you, barbara. this will impact a lot of you. a six-inch gas line is struck

and we have intersections in the tysons corner area that are impacted. we want to take you live to the scene. 123, cambridge road is what you are looking at near international drive and the mall is closed. notice both southbound lanes are closed. northbound lanes, one lane of traffic is able to get by, but they are diverting people on to international drive. the leak happened at a year construction site. they are on the scene right now. it is still open, but you are asked to avoid the area. no word on when the leak will be fixed. that's the latest from the live desk. back to you. >> thank you, angie. d.c. leaders held a ribbon cutting ceremony opening the first two wal-mart stores in the district.

they are both in northwest d.c. even with the openings, they bring controversy over low wages. they talked to the first shoppers and new. yes. >> this is the first good look inside the store along georgia avenue in northwest. for the opening alone they hauled in 38 truck loads of merchandise and one million pounds of food. wal far fans in line early. >> i have been shopping wal-mart since 1988. it's like a dream come true. >> it's good for the community. >> company brass and dignitaries and the color guard. the grand opening celebration at thergia avenue store and of course there were super hero, the cheetos guy. >> your total is $9.40.

>> the new wal-mart on h street is similar. both have a full grocery section and pharmacy. shawn wanted to be one of the first customers in. >> this property had a number of failed developments. it's exciting too see something come to fruition. >> the excitement here is off the chain. >> the openings have not arrived without a bit of controversy. >> i don't have a great love for wal-mart. if the prices are reasonable i will shop here. if they are somewhere else, i will go there. >> they enacted a law that would require retailers to pay employees at least $12.50 an hour and the mayor vetoed that. they hired the workers after receiving 23,000 applications. >> they are bringing jobs to the district of columbia and shopping opportunities. >> low, low prices today means low wages every day. >> outside no celebrating, but

protests. people walking with signs. they think wal-mart's title offer low prices will be the death of local businesses. >> these stores we see going up and down georgia avenue will be going away. >> both the georgia avenue and h street stores will be open seven days a week from 6 clng aim to midnight. >> new information about a d.c. officer injured. since we brought you the breaking news from the trinidad neighborhood, we learned the officer was treat and released from the hospital and the suspect is dead. the officer exchanged gunfire with the man and both were hit. the officer is part of the gun recovery unit. the shooting happened on queens street near trinidad avenue. >> we are sorting through the facts and making sure we have everything we need to sort

through the investigation. >> police are trying to discover what led to the shooting. >> virginia state police show 3900 gun transactions in the state on black friday. shattering last year's record. as of monday there have been 431,000 transactions, close to last year's record. the state keeps track of all criminal background checks, however not all checks represent a sale. about 1% would be buyers are denied. turning to weather and a great start to the day. it has been a mild day. chuck bell is in for tom and joins us with the first forecast for midday. good morning. >> good morning, everybody. the clouds remain in place, but there thin spots trying to break throughout overcast. we will see a little bit of sunshine. i wouldn't count on as much of a break as yesterday. even with the clouds, it's mild. temperatures up to the average

highs this time of year into the 40s to near 50. the warmer air down to the south. that is lifting northbound. all it will take is help from mother nature and we can turn the 40s into 50s area-wide. 1:00 mostly cloudy. temperatures in the low 50s. one or two peeks of sunshine and still make it into the mid- to upper 50s for a brief time. a pleasant enough day today. the clouds continue to thicken up tonight as a result of that south wind. temperatures won't fall much at or above 50 degrees. plenty of clouds and a taste of spring coming our way and a chance of rain and maybe ice as we get into the weekend. more about all that in a few minutes. >> al zand ray police are putting new resources into solving a murder. this marks the 10-year

anniversary since the death. joining us live from the police department with more. >> good morning, barbara. it is indeed the eve of a sad anniversary here in alexandria. the press conference was held so that police could reiterate the commitment to solving the case. it was ten years ago tomorrow that 56-year-old nancy failed to show up for a lunch meeting with her husband and their son, now father and son went to the home looking for her and discovered her dead and shot. they found her dead in the home. in the ensuing years, the number have been against them. the fbi uncovered a letter written before this murder where someone who had been in the alexandria jail threatened the sheriff. they followed up and didn't yield anything in the way of

arrests. it's sort of a dead end. jim dung died last year in north carolina and according to the police chief he has not been ruled out as a suspect in this case. this case is very open and active. >> i promise to the dunning family, the survivors that we will never put this case on a shelf. it will not be what is tradit n traditionally called the cold case. the viability is existing for us. we continued to try to investigate and get the lead. >> there is a new lead investigator on the case and they hope that changes and advancements over the past ten years may help them solve the case. there will be a vigil held in al zand ri a. >> police are looking for two people who robbed someone at a

mall. one of the robbers had a gun. it happened after midnight at the westfield montgomery mall. they were able to get away with a cell phone. d.c. police are looking for other victims after one of their own is arrested and charged with child porn. police arrested 32-year-old mark washington while on duty. he is accused of taking pictures of a naked 15-year-old girl. wash took the pictures in the girl's bedroom. the teen told her mother and police say they were able to recover several deleted pictures. the family of a woman killed in the navy yard shootings, her family is suing the security agency saying lax security allowed him to get in. they are suing a subcontractor for releasing him from a medical center. a claim filed last month ahead

of the law said the family is seeking more than $37 million. a court in tampa is handling the case. stolen radioactive color. what is being done to track down the cargo. when you can sign up for a program that will get you through airport security with little or no wait. this just in. needy kissed will be getting christmas gifts after all.

. a developing story in mexico. a nuclear agency said a truck carrying a radioactive substance has been stolen. the truck was stolen monday. it was taken to a waste storage

center in tijuana. the material is used for therapy treatment to combat cancer. we can find out when the actual recount will take place for virginia's attorney general. mark obenshain's representatives make that request at a preliminary hearing today in richmond. they will oversee the rebound. he trails mark herring by just 165 votes. today president obama is heading in to talk about the economy. here's a look at the arts and recreation campus. he will be speaking a few minutes from now. we don't expect him to make specific announcements, but he will urge congress to pass a budget and extend unemployment by the end of the year. three house committees are holding hearings that focus on the affordable care act's roll out. republicans in the committee say

issues with healthcare.gov prove they can't handle undertakings. democrats disagree with that. >> we have before us an example of something that may be too big to swallow even for the u.s. federal government. >> our country's experience with social security in 1935, medicare in 1965 and a prescription drug program in 2005 democrats the government is capable of overcoming the initial problems with the implementation. >> president obama insists the program is working well. he spoke in front of people who said have benefitted from the new law and works well for the ma jorit of users. as you heard, republicans remain skeptical and you are hearing less about an effort to repeal the law. deputy political editor joins us

to explain. good morning. the house voted dozens of times to repeal the law. we are hearing less of this. tell us why we will be hearing less from them. >> it's not popular to talk about repeal. you have seen it in poll after poll. a lot of republicans are wondering. what do they do if it begins to work. what do they do next and one of the things they are starting to see and talking about repeal and going back to the old 2012 talking points in hitting the president over medicare. >> the president will take about the affordable care act. why is he taking that to this audience? >> the young and the healthy may be the key to making the law work. you need a 3-1 ratio. you need one young and healthy people to sign up for every three sick people for the law to pay for itself. if they don't, insurers say that

premiums could go up and other things could happen that would be problematic and undermine the law. >> immigration reform is not a lot of cause. there was evidence today that you may be right about that. >> with this congress, i never think that anything is going to get done in a wholesale way. we know speaker boehner said this was not going to pass in a comprehensive fashion and go to a joint conference, however speaker boehner hired someone who is well-known within the immigration policy field. she was the head of the immigration policy at the bipartisan policy center. one of john mccain's top aides. if he was serious about crafting real immigration reform legislation while she is a good hire who can help you do. >> was it the lighting of the

christmas tree? >> it's the christmas tree. who will be against that. >> thanks very much. and if are more from do men coe, check out first read on nbc news.com. angie is at the live desk with good news just in. i want to hear that. what's happening? >> this just in. grand acts of kindness after a local salvation army was robbed. a spoebs person with the national capital area said they got three big checks in response to the robbery. wal-mart sent one for $15,000 and a local attorney and the foundation each gave $10,000 for a total of 35,000. two chiefs broke in on martin luther king junior avenue, that's video of what they left behind. they stole from the famous red kettles and got away with up to $10,000 in donations. we have posted surveillance video of the thieves. the alleged thieves at

nbcwashington.com. they are offering a $1,000 reward for information lead up to an arrest. at the live desk, news 4. >> thanks, angie. military families will get a special holiday celebration. first lady president obama will greet them for the first showing of the christmas decorations. there were 54 christmas trees and besides checking out the decorations, the children have a chance to do arts and crafts and decorate cookies in the state dining room. i know somebody who would like to decorate cookies right now. >> you going to get a big some. >> five or six feet. new puppy. you to be careful. she is going to gnaw every branch off the tree. a gloomy day, but not terribly

cold. mid 50s is close by as fredericksburg and stafford. a warming trend coming our way. if it's not warm enough, don't worry. tomorrow will be a mild day. temperatures make it into the 60s. we are 49 degrees at national airport and once we get the south wind to return, that will inch upwards. low 50s in southern maryland. that's the air mass that is trying to move in as well. as a result a little bit of a warming trend later on today. the outdoor planner, charles county and mostly cloudy. inching up into the mid 50s. temperatures will stay steady through much of the overnight hours. 48 or 50 by tomorrow morning. plenty of cloud for the remainder of the day. here's the way the satellite shapes up.

thin spots and there breaks of sunshine in the southern parts of the valley. we have a warming trend. a taste of spring time tomorrow. temperatures into the low and mid 60s. rain and snow. ice chances are back on the way. the weather impact scale, friday rain likely for both of morning and the afternoon commutes on friday. that's a medium impact day. sunday rather there is a possibility of rain skpr freezing rain. we have to keep a close eye on sunday. rain ending with snow flakes. that could be a bit of an impact. there is the warmer air starring to move ever northbound. that's the warm air mass we enjoy, but that gets kicked out during the course of the day on friday. more clouds staying mild and a pleasant day tomorrow. temperatures in the 60s.

here's the seven-day forecast. for today, mostly cloudy and mid 50s. south of town in the upper 50s to near 60. most of the rain chances hold off for the morning commute. friday a washout. could get an inch or more of rain during the course of the day friday as the colder air spills in. raindrops should be done with this early in the day on saturday. before lunchtime for sure. sunny and much colder. highs in the low 40s and sunday is the time we are watching out for rain mixed with freezing rain and especially in the shenandoah valley. it needs to be watched carefully. stay tuned. >> thank you, chuck. will you be paying more to keep the lights on? most people consider bacteria a bad thing. the good bacteria that can help your mental health and the foods you can eat to get it. here's

. >> this afternoon we will learn if power bills will go up. they scheduled a conference call when we will learn from the regional president what they are going to do. they plan to file a request to change rates for customers. they have not said if bills could be going up or down. we have good news if you are tired of waiting in the long security lines at the airport. you will be able to complete the application process for the precheck program right here in washington. the program allows you to keep your jacket and belt and shoes and all that on when you go through security. you will be able to stay dressed. you can leave your laptop in the case. you have to apply online and visit a center in person.

the first application center opens in indianapolis and they hope to have one open here by the end of the year. you have to pay $85 to get that check. you may want to pick up a lottery ticket this week. no one won the jackpot last night. it is growing to an estimated $291 million. the next one is friday night. the winning numbers were 7, 12, 41, 44, 59, and the megaball was 3. president obama is in southeast washington. coming up, the message he wants everyone to hear. cuban leaders are pleased to release a maryland man. the

>> about to talk about the economy at the town hall education. the art and recreation campus. what we are looking at is the president of the american center for progress. she is offering opening statements. the president is expected to walk up to the podium any minute now. when he gets up there he is expected no the to talk about any specific policy. the changes or announcements or proposals. instead he will urge congress to pass a budget and extend unemployment insurance by the end of the year. the president will now address a full audience.

>> thank you so much. thank you, everybody. please have a seat. sharing a story that resonated with me and there a lot of parallels in my life and resonated with some of you. over the past years, the center for american progress has done incredible work to shape the debate over expanding opportunity for all americans. i could not be more grateful not only for giving me a lot of policy ideas, but a lot of staff. my friend john ran my transition. my chief of staff dennis mcdonough did the cap. you guys are doing a good job training folks. i want to thank all the members

of congress and my administration here today for the wonderful work they do. i want to thank the mayor and everyone here at the ark for having me. i have been here quite a bit and had a chance to see the great work that's done here. all the nonprofits that called the ark home offer access to everything from education to health care to a safe shelter from the streets. that means that you are heroinsing the power of community to expand opportunity for folks here in d.c. your work reflects a tradition that runs through the history. the belief that we are greater than on our own. that's what i have come here to talk about today. >> president obama talking to a crowd from the think tank american center for progress. focusing on the economy and

plans to grow the economy. right now the u.s. unemployment rate remains at a high 7.3%. at the live desk, back to you. >> new yorkers can ride metro north hudson line. crews have been work around the clock to remove debris and rebuild about 800 feet of track. four people died and 63 others were hurt when the train dera derail derailed. human error may be to blame. the director of the rail employee's union said engineer william rockefeller caught himself nodding off at the controls. he doesn't remember any of the events before the train left the tracks. rockefeller told police that when he realized there was a problem he reached for the brakes and they failed. data recorders showed the brakes were applied five seconds before

the sliding. new today, cuba said it is ready to negotiate the release of a maryland man jailed in the country. in a statement, cuba said they are willing to come up with a solution in the case of alan gross, however they are also wanting to talk about the release of four cuban citizens detained for more than 15 years in the u.s. he has been jailed for four years now and serving a 15-year sentence. he is accused of spying for the u.s. government. fbi agents want you to know the impact the sequester is having on the bureau. we were there this morning when the fbi agent association said they hurt some national security. >> terrorists don't get furloughed and cyber hackers don't get furloughed. gang leaders and it's an unacceptable thing to furlough active agents. >> the group said the fbi lot of informants because of the sequester cuts. right now a major winter storm

impacting millions of people heading this way. it's not just the snow and ice, but the below freezing temperatures. miguel got a look at how conditions have become dangerous. >> this morning a brutal blast of arctic air turning parts of the country into an ice box. outside but luduluth, minnesota another foot is in the forecast today. a lot lot of roads are impassible and at least four have lot of their lives. by friday it could be 22 below zero. >> i'm not too stoked about it, but it's minnesota. >> this could be record cold. polar air is dropping temperatures as much as 40 degrees below normal. in the rocky mountains. snow. in many of the plain state, ice. a deep freeze that could last a week. for some areas, it hasn't been

this cold for this long in decades. >> i don't like 30 below weather. nobody does. >> even california is facing the freeze. in san francisco this morning temperatures in the 30s. >> it's really cold. >> in the central valley where 85% of the citrus crop is on the vine, farmers worry this $1.5 billion center won't survive. >> you say your prayers and go to bed and get up and see what it is happening. >> an icy plast is just getting started. >> what about our weather right here. let's check again with chuck bell. he's outside. what's it feeling like? kind of warm. >> it's not cold. you know something is up with the weather department when dallas will be 81 degrees today. they have winder koerm watches posted. 81 with the winder stormwatch.

you bet. they will have subfreezing highs by the weekend. guess where it's coming for the second half. right here. this is the view from over my head. this is trying to thin out a little. prince george's county camera with plenty of clouds. these are not rainmakers. you don't need the umbrella. low 50s in montgomery and low to mid 50s and mid 50s in southern fairfax. highs today mid 50s for most. upper 50s down to the south. then for tomorrow this is when the real mild air surges northbound as the cold air dives south. it forces the warm air up. tomorrow's highs well into the 60s. it will be mild. friday is the day we see the warm air gets out of here. the cold air is in place and

saturday afternoon it will be dry. chances for rain and freezing rain on sunday. we are keeping a close eye on that. we will have the latest on the news 4. >> not calling it snow yet. >> not yet. >> bacteria has a bad reputation after all. it can make you sick. there is new evidence that some forms of good bacteria can help yourental health. dr. joshua winer joins us to explain. >> you are calling it probiotics. we are hearing that a lot of what are probiotics. they are the good bacteria. we had way more bacteria living in and on us. 10-1 compared to the amount of human cells we have. we have about 100 trillion bacteria living on and in us. >> what percentage is good? >> i'm not sure. i can't give you an answer to that. we know they are crucial for the functioning of many things.

only recently we have started to discover some of the benefits. both for your physical health and today i will talk about mental health. >> they are in food or take supplements for it? >> probiotics are everywhere and they can be found in certain food like cheese, sauerkraut and yogurt. the healthiest places are fermented foods that you do yourself like milk like kefir. they can be found in supplements so a lot of people take them in supplement form. >> they are good for mental health. in what way? >> we know there is a connection between the gut and the brain. you get nervous and you get a stomach ache or lose your appetite. we know that the gut actually has more neurons in it than the spinal cord much the gut produces as mucher is serotonin than the brain.

it is involved in producing things like gamma immunobut terric acid. there have been studies in mice and humans to show that they have an anti-depressant and anti-anxiety benefit. >> in the gut. >> these are involved in producinger is serotonin and that helps you feel better emotionally. >> if they are off and you don't have the right ones there, what are the symptoms. >> a lot of people will have gastro intestinal problems and stomach aches and nausea and constipation and diarrhea. all sorts of issues like that. because these pro biotics are safe, i think people should be taking these as supplements if they have concerns. it has been shown to be helpful for boosting immune system and general health. >> for mental health, what do we

need to eat or take? >> there two bacteria that have been shown to be helpful. you have to understand there 500 different types back there. we are starting to discover which have certain benefits. there is biphytobacterium and lakto ba sill us. >> you recommend those to your patients? >> i give them to my kids and i drink kefir every morning. >> to alzheimer's patients. >> in general people will check with their doctors. very few people are not good candidates. >> a popular fast food restaurant is doing a little cooking of our own. for all those who sleep too hot or too cool,

and struggle to sleep comfortably together, now there's a solution. the company that individualized your comfort with the sleep number bed brings you sleep number dual temp, the revolutionary temperature-balancing layer with active air technology that works on any mattress brand, including yours. whether you sleep hot or cool, sleep number dual temp allows each of you to select your ideal temperature. so you can both sleep exactly the way you like, at your own perfect temperature. and there's only one place in the world you'll find it: a sleep number store, where this holiday season, the hottest sleep innovations make the coolest gifts, including sleep number dual temp. discover dual temp at one of our 425 sleep number stores nationwide. sleep number. comfort individualized. visit sleepnumber.com to find a sleep number store near you.

>> changes are coming to the chick fill a near you. they are removing high fructose corn syrup and dyes from sauces and dressings. they are removing a yellow dye from the chicken soup. the company worked on improving ingredients for years going through the menu. the changes come after a food blogger wrote about the ingredients and chemicals used in the food. small losses on wall street and good news on the housing market. hey, hampton. >> we have bargains yo-yoing all over the place and a range. off session lows and they are barely in positive territory after we had good news about it. checking the major earchlgaverae

dow is up about six points and s&p up a fraction as well. closely watched survey of job growth said businesses adding 215,000 jobs, way above consensus for 173,000. the survey from adp reignited market concerns and federal reserve may start winding down sooner than expected. we have had a bit of a turn around. the most important gauge of the job market comes on friday when the government releases the november employment report. more good news. new single family home sales surged 25.4% in october to an annual rate of 444,000 according to the commerce department, a rebound from a 6.6% decline in september. interest rates fell in the fall after rising during the summer.

finally after spending more than years in jail, tyco chief executive will be getting out of jail. once dubbed the poster boy for corporate greed, he was kwkded for stealing more than $100 million. his spending included a $2 million birthday party in 2001 for his then wife and who could forget the 6,000 dollar shower curtain. the executive will be released in january. >> thank you so much. we are celebrating the holidays here today talking about authentic italian food to a world of different foods. the chef joins us for a dish that would make your holiday dinner a lot better. and what are we making today? >> we will make -- a dumpling

without the dough. >> let's go for it. >> it's a nice ricotta and spinach and parmesan. we are going assemble it all together. >> that's the ricotta? >> we have the spinach? >> it looks like it has been through something. >> and then we have the parmesan and you can also have a hint of nutmeg. that's good. a pinch of salt. not too much. a little flour. >> regular flour? >> regular flour for that. you want to help me out? i will hold it and you mix it. they are all created. we are going to have the finished product.

it's all mixed up together. you want to make that. i will work it in and after that, we will make a bowl like this one. this is the durham flower. you want to do the bowl less than one ounce like this. a little bit of flower on your hands is always better. you put it like this. look with the beautiful hands. that's on the top. this is okay. then we put it over here and cooking which usually takes like three to four minutes with boiling water with the salt and

when they come up. they rise to the top. >> this is a dumpling. >> this is a great pasta. people use it and do the holiday touch. >> is this something that you have on christmas eve? >> yes. so we put cheese on top of that. this is the many reviews. there you go. >> fantastic. >> then butter. >> and the butter and sage and thyme. >> this is what it looks like. look at that. nice. >> absolutely beautiful. perfect holiday meal. >> they will hopefully come up on a couple of weeks.

they can elevate the test facility. >> thank you so much. love the christmas decorations you brought. makes us feel like the holidays. >> merry christmas. >> atu. a mid-air collision involving skydivers and chuck bell will be back

>> overnight, police spoke to people who saw two skydivers collide mid-air and both were killed. the skydivers had open parachutes and collided about 200 to 300 feet off the ground. this happened at one of the most popular sites in the country. others there say they know they risk their lives every time they

jump. >> it's just one of the things we have to mace with the sport that the chance of injury is always there. >> third person is hurt. they don't think it was related to the mid-air collision. we are following several developing stories. police and firefighters are trying to fix a gas leak. this is at the intersection. we are hearing the leak at a nearby construction site. both malls are open right now,b closed because of the leak. d.c.'s fire support has been at center stage. they are reviewing an audit of the vehicle thief. they found that fire trucks and other vehicles are generally in poor condition. the report said the management system has been in disrepair for 15 to 20 years. news 4 is at that hearing right

now. look for the live report on news 4 at 5:00. time now for a final check on the forecast. >> cloudy and gray for now, but the overcast will thin out and you will get a break or two. won't need to worry about sun breathing. mid-sicks tomorrow and even tomorrow a delightfully mild day. sticking with us throughout the day on friday. out of here early saturday. they should be dry, but sunday we are keeping a close eye on this and a chance of rain with freezing rain and sleet or iciness in there suspected morning and again sunday night. we will have to watch this closely. stay tuned. >> thank you, chuck. the countdown is on. nbc is kicking off the holiday season with the 81st rockefeller center christmas tree lighting ceremony. the 76-foot norway spruce is decorated with 45,000 lights and

swarovski crystal star on top you remember from last year. live performances from mary j. blige, jewel, mariah carey, and natalie morales and al roker will cohost. that's starting at 8:00 here on nbc 4. that's midday for today. thank you for being with us and invite you toton in at 4:00, 5:00, 6:00 and 11:00. hope you plan to join us then. until then have a great day and see you in the morning.

i won't let go. love you honey. we have got a packed show for you today. she was touching up you hair to look so perfect. >> we like that. that's our hair lady. did a very nice job today. >> thank you very much. i'm billy bush. >> we are loaded today. first all, it's the last day of hanukkah. we have a very special